Wheel Alignment Complaint After Tyre Replacement
A customer had four new tyres fitted at your workshop 3,000 km ago. They return complaining that the front tyres are wearing on the inside edges and the steering wheel is off-centre. The invoice shows no wheel alignment was performed at the time of fitting. The front tyres now measure 4 mm on the inside shoulder and 7 mm across the centre. The rear tyres are even at 7 mm. A four-wheel alignment check shows front toe within specification, front camber on the left at minus 1.8 degrees against a specification of minus 0.5 plus or minus 0.5 degrees, and rear toe out of specification by 0.3 degrees. The customer wants four new tyres and a free alignment, and is threatening to go to the consumer regulator. The workshop manager asks you to write up the position.
1. What caused the wear, and what is the workshop's responsibility here?
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The wear pattern is caused by misalignment, not by tyre quality. The left front camber at minus 1.8 degrees is well outside the specification of minus 0.5 plus or minus 0.5 degrees, which produces accelerated wear on the inside shoulder, matching the 4 mm inside versus 7 mm centre measurement. The rear toe being 0.3 degrees out is a separate fault that will also cause wear if left.
The workshop's responsibility is partial and needs to be stated accurately. Fitting tyres without checking or recommending alignment is a service gap, especially when the previous tyres were not inspected for uneven wear. However, the camber being that far out suggests a worn or bent suspension component, which is a vehicle condition, not something tyre fitting caused. The honest position is that the workshop should have recommended an alignment check, and that recommendation was missed. The workshop is not responsible for the underlying suspension wear, but it is responsible for the missed recommendation and should offer to correct the alignment as part of resolving the complaint.
2. Draft the response to the customer and set out the repair plan, including what you will and will not cover.
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Response to the customer, in plain terms:
- Acknowledge the missed recommendation. The tyres were fitted without an alignment check, and that should have been offered.
- Explain the measurements: the left front camber is outside specification and is the cause of the inside edge wear. The rear toe is also slightly out.
- Be clear that the camber reading indicates a suspension component that is worn or damaged, and that this is a vehicle condition rather than a fault in the tyres fitted.
Repair plan:
- Inspect the left front suspension for worn ball joints, bushes, strut or control arm damage before adjusting anything. Adjusting camber without finding the cause will not hold.
- Replace any worn component found, then perform a four-wheel alignment to specification and centre the steering wheel.
- Re-check the tyres after the repair. The front tyres at 4 mm on the inside shoulder are worn but may still be serviceable depending on the legal limit and the customer's tolerance; advise replacement if the shoulder is at or near the limit.
What the workshop will cover: the alignment labour as a goodwill gesture for the missed recommendation. What it will not cover: the suspension component or new tyres, unless inspection shows the workshop caused the damage. Put the offer in writing, with the measurements attached, and give a clear date for the inspection. This gives the customer a fair outcome and a documented record if the matter goes further.